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| Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) |
Interestingly, this movie is a prequel, not a sequel, which initially I was concerned about. After Raiders I was interested in seeing where Indy's story went, but no such luck. I do understand why they did this now, they didn't want the Nazis to keep being the villains over and over again. And, for the purposes of this story, being a prequel does sort of make sense, it's just a little jarring at first. The plot of this movie is also very simple, just like the original, which is a good thing. Much like Mad Max 2, keeping the story of a serial-style movie simple is important so we can just focus on the adventure. Indy isn't changed by the end of this adventure, nor should he be. This is just another of his tales, and since he's the same character he was in the original, having him learn a fundamental lesson about himself here would mean that he forgot said lesson by the time of Raiders, so best to keep the character as simple as the story here.
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| Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones |
The action in this movie is just as good as the first one. There aren't as many huge set-pieces in this one as there were previously, but they make up for it by honestly just giving the movie a much better pacing than the original. The first film end on something of an anti-climax, whereas this film is really exciting. The mine-cart chase and the bridge scene function as this movie's car-chase from the previous film, except this time these scenes take place right at the end of the movie instead of the beginning of the third act, so the flow feels a whole lot better. The music is also once again magnificent, and Indy's theme as just as uplifting and grandiose as it always has been.
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| Ke Huy Quan as Short Round |
Harrison Ford is once again brilliant as Dr. Jones. He's the same cocky adventurer he always has been, and I love it. He might even have a bit more range in this film, which is a good thing since, sadly, the remainder of the cast either don't leave an impression, or leave the wrong one. Ke Huy Quan is okay as Short Round, and I did like the character by the end, especially given how useful he ended up being. I just felt like he only had one volume setting, and basically shouted all of his lines which made it kind of grating. But, believe me, that's nothing on Willie. Holy f***, Willie is the worst. Comparing her to Marion from the first movie is like comparing Mary-Jane Watson to Ellen Ripley. There's no comparison. Willie is the most useless character I've ever seen in fiction, and that's saying something. I also don't think it's a coincidence that she's named after the Wilhelm scream, as that's all she does in this movie. I don't think I've ever hated a character more after 5 minutes of screen-time than I did Willie. Seriously. Think about that.
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| Kate Capshaw as Willie Scott |
There are a couple more problems I had with this movie that stopped me from truly enjoying it. Like with the previous movie, there are a couple of situations from which Indy and the gang should not have come out of alive, but this time it's even more ridiculous. Everything that happens with the raft? No. They all died. They just did. Also, there are a few instances in which I feel the film isn't given Hinduism and Indian culture enough respect, and I don't just mean with the 'white saviour' story. I guarantee that monkey heads are not a traditional Indian dessert. Also, after looking it up, Kali, the goddess that the evil cult was worshipping, is in actuality the goddess of change and empowerment rather than a representative of the underworld. That's just... that's just not right.
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| Amrish Puri as Mola Ram |
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) is a fun time with a few unfortunate shortcomings that do drag it down a little. I'd still watch it again, I'd just have to turn my brain off to forget some of these issues. And also I'd delete Willie. Seriously, f*** that character. 6.5/10
Tomorrow: we return to Middle Earth with The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
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